Second Breath
Clothes for life
CSS contribution, rubles
Total budget, rubles
Implementation period, months
Project idea
The "Clothes for Life" project aims to improve the quality of life for children from socially vulnerable families in the regions. By providing clothing to families, the project reduces the financial burden on parents, allowing them to reallocate the saved budget to other expenses (utility payments, food purchases).
"Second Breath" collaborates with 94 organizations in 18 regions and provides humanitarian aid to more than 30,000 families living below the poverty line. According to the survey, 85% of the dependents have an income below the subsistence level, and 69% are unemployed and lack means of subsistence. The project focuses on small towns that are not regional centers, where there is no industry, but people in need of support continue to live.
The project consists of several stages.
- clothing collection: 10 clothing collection campaigns are carried out, attracting the attention of middle-income families to the issue and promoting family charity;
- sorting clothes in the organization's warehouse by employees. As part of the project, tours are conducted for schoolchildren accompanied by their parents, so that the children can see the benefits of the clothes they donate and the organization's work from the inside.
The selected items are sent to the regions for distribution to families. As part of the project, vehicles with humanitarian aid are dispatched to remote regions, and clothes are distributed at the distribution center in Kostroma.
As a result of the project, 7,000–8,000 beneficiaries will receive assistance, gaining access to 12 tons of clothing (over 30,000 clothing items). This will save families more than 8 million rubles, with the project's implementation cost being 700,000 rubles.
Relevance
The project aimed at addressing urgent clothing issues will allow parents to save funds necessary for solving other tasks – buying food, textbooks, and paying utility bills. This will change the quality of life for many families and will provide not only material but also moral support for parents raising children in a difficult economic situation.
The project beneficiaries need quality clothing, as most of them are families with an income below the subsistence level, unemployed, and without means of livelihood. They are forced to work unofficially to feed their children and cannot afford to buy new clothes, especially before the start of the school year. Prices in second-hand shops are inflated, and buying clothes with their salary is impossible.
Children dressed in old and worn-out clothes often become targets of bullying by their peers, leading to a reluctance to attend school. The project will help solve these problems and improve the quality of life for many families.
Social effect
Improving the quality of life for children and families in difficult life situations through the organization of clothing aid distribution in the Kostroma region. Promoting the ideas of sharing, sorting, and recycling clothes among the residents of Moscow.
KPI
KPI
Project Results
During the project implementation, the residents of Moscow learned how and to whom they could provide clothing assistance and participated in collecting clothes by either dropping them off in containers or arranging for home pick-up. Those interested visited the warehouse for excursions to familiarize themselves more thoroughly with the process.
Containers located near children's recreational facilities, family cafes, and libraries have allowed families with children to participate in clothing collection. This increased people's awareness and involvement in charity, and children became more responsive and empathetic, seeing the example of their parents helping those in need.
For effective and quality assistance to the regions, the clothes were sorted into categories. In July 2020, a trip was made to remote regions of the Kostroma region, with 4,319 kg of clothing delivered. During the quarantine period, with all safety measures observed, a free clothing market was organized for the staff of the Kadyi Psychoneurological Boarding School.
In September 2020, a trip was made to the Novgorod region, where 4,475 kg of clothing were delivered.
In October 2020, a trip was made to the Pskov region for the first time, with 2,402 kg of clothing delivered. Moreover, in November, 119 kg of clothing was sent to Belskoye Ustye village (Pskov region).
In the crisis caused by the pandemic, the demand for clothing and essential items among socially vulnerable groups increased. Residents of the regions have low salaries and issues with job availability, so they are forced to seek additional income to support their families. Many families are raising more than one child.
The provided clothing allowed people to choose the necessary items and footwear, significantly saving money and using it for other important expenses. For some families, purchasing seasonal clothing and footwear causes significant financial difficulties. Such assistance improved the quality of life for many families, providing them with material and moral support.
Project progress after CSS funding
The project is planned to continue with the organization's own funds. Partners require regular deliveries of clothing aid and are interested in having the clothes selected according to their requests.
Social service centers and regional NGOs with whom cooperation is carried out note an increase in requests and a deterioration in the financial situation of beneficiaries. The resources of local organizations for working with humanitarian aid have decreased: it has become more difficult to collect the necessary amount of clothes, prepare them, and deliver them to the regions where they are needed.
